The academic and social impact of divorce on early childhood students in school

Abstract

This qualitative study was designed to examine the academic and social impact of divorce on early childhood students in school. The purpose of this study was based on three areas of past research: How do early childhood teachers, counselors, psychologist, nurses, principals and assistant principals describe their experience of working with children (ages Pre-K to Grade 1) who have experienced parental divorce as compared to children who do not experience divorce?; In what ways does divorce affect early childhood students' academic achievement and behavior in school?; And what strategies and programs would early childhood teachers, counselors, psychologist, nurses, principals and assistant principals like to see put in place at school to help support these students and their parents? Participants included 20 early childhood teachers and 5 administrators in the Boston, Massachusetts area who completed open ended questionnaires in a focus group atmosphere and interview questions, respectively, in January and February 2012 to determine positive and negative effects of divorce in school for early childhood students.